Now resident in Dublin after a spell in Galway, Bostonian Maria Tecce describes her favourite fashion style as 'classy vintage chic'. “I love second-hand shops," she explains, "and I do a lot of shopping when I go back to the USA, or in Barcelona.”
But she also favours Buffalo for shoes and Kookai, and, if she could afford it, Chanel.
“I’m very picky about what I buy," she admits. "Some of the gowns I wear I found in Boston, while I’ve also made a couple myself. I go back to the USA for Thanksgiving every year. It’s the biggest shopping weekend over there and I never miss it. Of course when I’m doing a specific type of show, such as the torch songs, I have to find clothes that suit, something smoky and sexy and that fit my Sophia Loren type shape, so I tend to look around for something a bit quirky wherever I go.”
I wonder if over the years she’s made any serious fashion mistakes?
“Like everybody else, I suppose I made a few mistakes in the ’80s. Just think of all those perms! But I have some really good girlfriends who come with me when I go shopping for clothes, and they wouldn’t let me out of the shop looking scary in anything. So they save me from myself sometimes!”
Fashion trends, as such, are not high on Tecce’s agenda either.
“To me, the labels themselves are not really that important. I’m never going to be a Miss Selfridge chick anyway. The reality is that it’s not quite what you wear but how you wear it. Clothes are very personal to each person, so it’s important to find something that makes you feel good about yourself. I think everybody should have two or three pieces that are really good and you can build a wardrobe around those items and don’t mind the labels. I tend to shop sensibly within my means too.”
Those who’ve admired Tecce for her stylish fashion sensibility on stage may wonder if she dresses down at home when there’s nobody around.
“To be honest, I tend to dress the way I feel," she says. "Sometimes it’s okay to be a bit scruffy, but other times putting on something you like can cheer you up.”
So does her dress sense on stage reflect in any way the kind of person she is by nature, or is it a kind of disconnected performance?
“What I am on stage is a part of what I am. I’m not one for wearing lots of make-up offstage, so people who see me on the street might not even bat an eyelid at me. I’m actually very low-maintenance when it comes to clothes in my daily life, just an unfussy, ordinary everyday girl.”
She’s also a self-confessed bargain-hunter.
“I like sniffing them out”, she says, citing a red leather jacket as the best item she ever picked up was. “I got it made especially for me in Morocco. I can’t quite remember exactly how much it cost, but it was probably around €200-€300. It has a nice waist which suits my hour-glass figure and there’s some nice black detailing on it.”
She also tells me about the personal provenance of the dress she was photographed in for this special hotpress shoot. “It’s a red-patterned vintage dress from the ’60s that was bequeathed to me by my Italian grandmother,” she says. "I love it."
Given that Italian connection, and the reputation that country’s people have for the understated stylishness of their fashion sense, I ask her if she feels that Irish people dress well.
“I think in the past Irish people didn’t have the money to dress as well as they might have liked to," she avers, "but now that the country’s a lot more affluent, I think they’re becoming very fashion-conscious and very aware of how they look."
And since she brought up the subject of affluence, is there anything she’d like to buy but can’t?
“Oh, yes, of course there is. I have my eye on a simple black Armani suit that I can’t afford yet. It would probably cost up to €2,000, so it’s a little out of my range right now.” Maybe one day?

Maria Tecce will perform at the Cobalt Café from September 19 to 22 at 9pm as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. She will release her Live In Prague DVD in the Autumn on Divine Records.